Santa Ana police in California have arrested 48-year-old Indian-origin woman Saritha Ramaraju for allegedly killing her 11-year-old son following a three-day trip to Disneyland during a custody visit.
According to authorities, Ramaraju called 911 at 9:12 a.m. on March 19, 2025, from the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana, confessing that she had killed her son in their hotel room. She also informed dispatchers that she had ingested an unknown substance.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the boy unresponsive on the hotel bed with apparent stab wounds. He was surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs. Police detained Ramaraju in the hallway and transported her to a hospital for evaluation, according to a statement from Santa Ana police. A large kitchen knife, reportedly purchased the day before, was recovered from the room. Officials believe the child had been dead for several hours before Ramaraju made the emergency call.
The victim was supposed to return to his father that same day, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on March 21st. Instead, prosecutors say he became the target of a tragic act of violence. Ramaraju, who moved out of state after divorcing the boy’s father in 2018, had traveled to Santa Ana from Irvine for the custody visit and bought three-day Disneyland passes for herself and her son.
Ramaraju now faces one felony count of murder and an additional felony enhancement for personal use of a weapon. If convicted on all charges, she could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison. She is scheduled to be arraigned today.
“The life of a child should not hang in the balance between two parents whose anger for each other outweighs their love for their child,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Anger makes you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing. The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms. Instead of wrapping her arms around their son in love, she slit his throat and in the cruelest twist of fate removed him from the very world she brought him into.”
